I may be a bit short on blog items in the next few days, but that’s because I’m putting together two special sections to post over the next two weeks.

Continuing to look backward in order to make sense of where we are and where we’re going, I will shift our focus to two watershed events that changed the course of our lives, and still resonate in the lives of our children and grandchildren.

First, the fall of the Soviet Union, as exemplified by the fall of the Berlin Wall.

November 9 is the 20th anniversary of the breach of the Wall, and I will be posting photos, memorabilia, comments from those who lived there before or after, as well as my own observations of East Germany during reunification efforts, based on a three-week visit. If you would like to contribute your own thoughts, photos, links, or whatever on the fall of the Wall, please send what you have to me now so I can include it in the mix.

Second, the 46th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

As many of us have done before, we’ll stop for a moment to recall where we were when we heard (or saw) the news, and how life changed afterward. The Birds blog has some people with close ties to this event among its readership, so don’t miss this collection of compelling comments beginning around November 15. Again, if you’d like to contribute, send your emails this week, please.